Everyman’s library and Penguin Clothbound are popular options.

Maybe look for some fiction that looks to engage your intellect. There is a very wide range of fiction out there. A few types that to mind at the moment would be, a of ideas like The Magic Mountian by Thomas Mann, a novel that blends fact and fiction like Belladonna by Dasa Drndić and W.G. Sebald’s works, The Malazan Book of the Fallen is fantasy that is both philosophical and layered with thousands of years of history.

Once you find the types of books you like it’ll be easy to find more. Getting started is the hard part. Also there is nothing wrong with just reading history! History makes up half of my reading, the only drawback to reading both history and literature is the endless want-to-read lists are even more endless than would otherwise be the case.

Here’s a quote from Krasznahorkai

“With this novel I can prove that I really wrote just one book in my life. This is the book—Satantango, Melancholy, War and War, and Baron. This is my one book.”

Antony Beevor and Max Hastings are two excellent WWII historians, The Second World War and Inferno are their respective books covering the whole war.

For a book covering WWI there are quite a few options but I forget how difficult of a read they are. John Keegan, Peter Hart, Martin Gilbert, G.J. Meyer. If your interest is strong I don’t think any of them should be a problem.

For the world wars I’ve found it useful to read a book covering the whole war first and then branch off from there. Also worth circling back around for another overarching account after you know more details.

For a Native American history Pekka Hamalainan is worth a look, I own but haven’t read his books.

Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick (probably any of his books that are of interest)

I don’t picture them at all. If the author gives a descriptor multiple times then I generally keep that in my imagination because there must be a reason for stating it more than once. I’m part of the no visualization crew so I don’t really bother myself with details that aren’t given. Characters, to the extent that they exist in my mind, are made up of their actions, thoughts, and situations, very rarely are they given a face.

My strategy when I come up against great writers who initially stump me is to persevere. While I may not particularly enjoy that first read, over time the work does some magic and I’m compelled to read it again, this time with a better understanding of what I’m getting into.

It’s okay to set a book aside and come back to it but for me I’d rather push through and let it work on my brain in the background. One of my first tough classics was Beloved and I’m eagerly anticipating a reread.

Also, there’s no shame in checking out chapter summaries to guide you along.

Yeah I don’t think it affects enjoyment of reading in any way, we just experience reading and life a bit differently is all.

Also visualization doesn’t equal imagination, so descriptive scenes can be just as impactful. It’s still just a matter of personal taste if you like descriptive writing.

Having lived without visualization I can’t say I particularly want to be able to visualize, maybe for an hour.